Program connects Brazilian students learning English with nursing home residents

Tuesday

May 13, 2014 at 12:01 AMMay 13, 2014 at 10:57 AM

A Brazilian teaching program had the brilliant idea to pair students learning English with elderly residents at a retirement home, and the result is beautiful.

Faith Heaton Jolley

CHICAGO - A Brazilian teaching program had the brilliant idea to pair students learning English with elderly residents at a retirement home, and the result is beautiful.
FCB Brazil started the "Speaking Exchange" project for CNA language schools, according to Adweek. The pilot project was implemented at a CNA school in Liberdade, Brazil, and students were paired with residents of the the Windsor Park Retirement Community in Chicago.
The Brazilian students talked with the elderly Americans via Webchat and the videos were recorded to be graded later by instructors. The connections made between the pairs are beautiful and touching as seen in a YouTube video released by CNA.
"Not all of students have a chance to travel abroad and to interact with native speakers of English," Vanessa Valenca, a pedagogical coordinator, said in the video. "What our students really want is to speak English fluently. And we are always asking ourselves, 'How can we make it more real, more human?'"
It turns out that the program is not only teaching the students English - it is also teaching them love.%3Cimg%20src%3D%22http%3A//beacon.deseretconnect.com/beacon.gif%3Fcid%3D170802%26pid%3D46%22%20/%3E